Appearance: The beautiful darkish brown color of a Belgian Strong Dark comes crashing down into the glass to leave a full finger of light beige head. Spotted lacing.

Smell: Fig/grape, a bit of cherry. Very fruity. Sweet malt (candy sugar?), and a bit of funk hiding in there.

Taste: Very complex. Dark fruits, belgian yeast, and indeed a hint of brett that I thought I smelled. Definitely an oak presence on the backend with a slight bit of alcohol heat. I can't tell if it's plain oak barrel and heat from the high alcohol, or some form of liquor barrel aging. Going to guess a wine barrel here - in fact I swear I taste wine tannins as the beer warms.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied and sticky. Carb level a bit on the high side, but not distractingly so.

Drinkability: A slow sipper. There is a lot going on here, and it's a beer you'll want to enjoy over the course of a variety of temperatures.

Overall: I'm not entirely sure what this beer is, but I like it quite a bit, and would seek it out again. Outside the box of your typical Belgian Strong Dark ale, which is my favorite style.

Thanks to Jeff for the bottle share. It pours a deep, deep, burnt-brown color, almost appearing pitch black once it finally makes it to the glass. It's completely opaque, capped off with a thick and lasting, foamy tan head; it's huge, vibrant, and leaves some nice patches of chunky lacing on its way down.

The aroma is pretty enigmatic; a mild fruity and heavily floral mixture, bombarded with a slew of many, many other things. Mild cocoa powder, vanilla hints, plums and dates, licorice, dry oak, weird spices like sage or coriander, and a hefty dose of cheese-cloth funk, moldy hay, and horsey barnyard. Doesn't smell very tart, mainly just floral and funky. Not bad, but really, really weird.

Some roast and chocolate exhibits the first sip; this beer is surprisingly not sour at all. I kind of went into thing expecting something along the lines of a Flanders Oud Bruin, a la La Folie, but I was quite mistaken. The flavor profile is more strange and weird than the aroma, and I already know I'm going to have a difficult time describing this one.

Earth, dirt, deep black licorice, heavy perfume and florals, laced with rotten cherry, wet and moldy wood, funky cheese, sweat, horseblanket and musty cellar, and a touch of pineapple from the Brett. Unabashed funk, to an unnecessary degree. This beer is not very good, and as it got warmer, it only got worse. The funk leaves a pretty rough aftertaste and makes this beer hard to drink.

The problem is the lack of balance. All funk and pungent, perfume-like floral notes combine on your palate to form the worse aftertaste imaginable. Where is the tartness that everyone else seems to pick up? Medium bodied, ample carbonation, and a someone oily and sticky mouth feel. I tried to like this beer, and it sounds like something I'd love, but it's just a rambling attempt at a Bretted brown and actually pretty difficult to finish.

T: Taste follows the nose. It's OK, but seems to be lacking and seems like the age might have got to this one. Some tartness initially from the Brett. Then you get that base brown ale character. Finish is slightly dry.